1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an outlet device for coin payout hoppers used in game machines, coin exchangers or the like.
2. Related Art Statement
Hitherto, there is a coin payout hopper as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,437,478 comprising a hopper for storing coins, a rotary disc rotatably mounted within said hopper at an angle to the horizontal, a plurality of delivery pins spaced in the peripheral direction of the rotary disc, and a delivery knife for guiding coins at an upper delivery portion to a discharge chute.
Some coin payout hoppers of the type mentioned above are provided with an outlet device which comprises an outlet chute for receiving coins discharged from the discharge chute of the coin payout hopper and an escalator which is connected to the outlet chute at the lower end thereof and upwardly extended from the outlet chute for transferring coins to a coin tray which is elevated from the hopper as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,518,001.
The escalator is in the form of an elongated trough composed of front and back side plates and a pair of edge plates interposed between the side edges of the side plates, respectively, to define an upwardly extending, straight coin guide passage adapted for pushing up coins in single, edge-to-edge file or stack in the trough to the upper outlet end thereof by mutual thrust of coins pushed into the outlet chute, for example, by means of the delivery pins of the coin payout hopper.
In the conventional outlet device, as shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, the outlet chute 1 is composed of front and back side plates 7 and 8 and edge plates 11 and 12 interposed between the side plates to define a curved coin guiding passage 4 extending from a lower inlet 3 receiving coins 2 from a discharge chute of a payout hopper to an upper outlet 5 connected to the lower end of an elevator 6. The curved coin guiding passage has a depth between the front and back plates greater than the thickness of the coins, but less than twice the thickness of the coins and a width between the edge plates also greater than the diameter of the coins. The width of the curved coin guiding passage is defined by the opposed coin guiding edge faces 9 and 10 of the edge plates 11 and 12 positioned in the outer and inner side in relation to a center of curvature of the curved guiding passage 4, respectively. The front side plate 7 in the case shown in FIGS. 9 and 10 is divided to an inner front side plate 7A and an outer front side plate 7B which are spaced to define a window 13 extending along the curved coin passage 4. The inner and outer front side plates 7A and 7B are rigidly secured to the back side plate 8 together with the edge plates 11 and 12 by means of screws 14 and 15. The outer and inner front side plates 7A and 7B have extensions 7a and 7b beyond the coin guiding edge face 9 and 10 of the edge plate 11 and 12, respectively, to provide gutters for engaging with the outer pripheral portion of the coins to retain the coins in the curved guiding passage and to prevent the coins from dropping out of the passage. Thus, the outlet chute 1 receives coins 2 pushed in the lower inlet 3 in the horizontal direction as shown by an arrow "A" and guides them in single, edge-to-edge file in the curved guiding passage 4 defined by the front side plate 8, a pair of the edge plates 11 and 12 and both the front side plates 7A and 7B towards the upper outlet 5 in the vertical direction as shown by an arrow "B" by a mutual thrust of coins.
Such a conventional outlet device as mentioned above has drawbacks such that a deformed coin can be jammed in the guiding passage by outwardly or inwardly pushing by an edge of the adjacent coin slipping behind or in front of the deformed coin against the side plates to stop up the coins in the guiding passage. Particularly, when the height of the escalator is higher, the weight of coins subjected to the coins in the curved guiding passage is larger. As the result, the tendency of jamming by the deformed coin is increased. Accordingly, not only is the height of the escalator limited, but also the efficiency of payout is decreased.